I had ordered some bedding-out plants from a lady on Facebook Marketplace – a squash, a couple peppers, and an eggplant. She lived in Crossfield, a small town about 30 minutes north of my house. Tired of social isolation and crappy weather, I was totally up for the trek, just to get out of the house. I was not at all familiar with Crossfield, so I asked the lady to recommend a restaurant that does takeout and she recommended GonHoo Cafe – a Chinese restaurant on the edge of town… the prices and the reviews seemed to be good so we made a plan to grab some Chinese takeout. They don’t seem to have a website but they are on Facebook and are easy to find online.
We placed the order upon arriving in Crossfield, figuring it would be ready in about 20-40 minutes. They told us they would call us when the food was ready, in about 20 minutes. There was a bit of confusion when placing the order because the photo of the menu we found online was not the same as the menu they were using at the restaurant, but at least we figured it out before we ordered a bunch of things we didn’t want!
We had brought lawn chairs with built-in side tables so we could enjoy our food hot and fresh in a grassy field somewhere, but alas the weather turned dark, rainy and windy so we decided to just book’er home once we got the food.
After 30 minutes we called the restaurant from the parking lot and they told us it would be another 15-20 minutes… we sat in the car for quite a while waiting, but at least the food was worth it. They brought the food out to the car and we paid with the machine – they were very friendly and apologetic for the delay. The trip home was almost torture because it smelled so tasty!
We opened the bags and found a gift from the restaurant – an order of spring rolls! This was a nice treat given the wait. We ordered BBQ Pork Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Pork, Ginger Beef, Beef & Broccoli and Salt & Pepper Squid (which also has shrimp in it).
Not to sound cliche, but we both thought this was the best fried rice we’ve ever had. The container was stuffed full (you can see this in the photo), there was plenty of chunks of BBQ pork, and the flavour was delicious. It wasn’t too salty and didn’t reek of soy sauce. It had a slight smoky flavour, and wasn’t dry. I would totally get this again, especially for the low, low price of $7.50!
I’m a fan of salt and pepper squid… but usually it’s a little pricey at around $17. At GonHoo, it’s listed in the Appetizer section of the menu and is only $13.50. It was definitely the crispiest salt and pepper squid I’ve ever had… usually it’s served tender and soft, but this was battered and cooked similar to the ginger beef and sweet and sour pork. It was a new concept for me and I actually quite liked it. At first I shunned the peppers and onions, as they’re most often just garnish on the plate, but these were super tasty – they added an extra punch of flavour and a complimentary softer texture in the mouth.
The beef and broccoli was good but was not my favourite dish. At $9.50 it was a good price, but the broccoli was overcooked and I thought the dish lacked flavour. Max, however, really liked the sauce in the dish and drizzled it over his rice.
The sweet and sour pork was super crispy – the crispiest I’ve ever had! This dish was $10.50 and although the flavours were pretty standard, the crispiness held up for the half hour drive home.
Same goes for the ginger beef – battered the same as the pork, it was super crispy and full of flavour (pictured at the top of this post). For $10.50 the ginger beef is worth the trip out to Crossfield alone.
Unfortunately I didn’t think the gifted spring rolls were very good… they didn’t have much for filling nor flavour. I personally wouldn’t order them myself, but I definitely appreciated the gesture!
Overall, I’m super happy that we found GonHoo Cafe in Crossfield. It’s a half an hour drive from my house and we will definitely go there again and again! Once this social distancing thing is over with we’ll head out for their dinner buffet – it’s only $12.95! Perhaps I shouldn’t tell them that Max is 6ft8 LOL…
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